Protection
by WellEverythingOriginalWasTaken
Summary: James Potter, a young detective has to try to succeed where so many have failed- to get Sirius Black to reveal Remus Lupin, but nothing's what it seems in this murder case.


**Well, it's been a while but here's another! As per, I own nothing apart from some strong opinions on subtext and an ability to 'take inspiration' from a variety of sources. The rating is for language alone, I can't not drop some F-bombs! Reviews, as usual, would be fantastic, so enjoy!**

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><p>"You're back then" a young man stubbed out a cigarette, coolly exhaling the remnants of the last puff. He watched as the tendrils faded into nothingness before sitting back in his chair and continuing. "To spend another wasted day trying to glean some information?"<p>

"No, to talk to you" the other man pulled out the chair opposite and took a seat.

"If you could find out when you would die, would you?"

He had been warned not to get sucked in at the beginning, to deflect all questions and continue with the line of questioning, but after it had become apparent that it wasn't going to work he was started to consider just rolling with what was raised and seeing where it took him. "I think I would. I could make the most of everything."

"Things would be a disappointment" he shook his head; his hair flopping in front of his eyes before he hurriedly pushed it back.

"Why did you ask me then?"

"To see if you got it right. You didn't."

"Is that what he used to do? Did he used to threaten Remus with death, and that's why you wouldn't want to know in advance, Sirius?" he knew he was taking a risk using his name; those who had in the past hadn't fared too well.

"Do you honestly think that everything I say is a cry over the need to share the truth? Because it isn't, Mr. Potter. I had hoped you would be just that bit more intelligent than the rest of the fuck-wits they sent in here, but obviously not."

"We're the same age."

Sirius rested his chin in his hands. "Pardon?"

"I assumed the only reason you used my title was because of age. You haven't shown respect to anyone else in this investigation, other than to play games, so I'm led to believe you have no respect for law enforcement, and therefore would address me as 'Mr.' because you thought I was older than you."

"Fine. James. As I was saying, you hoped to catch me out with such basic techniques?"

"You must be tired, Sirius. Refusing to sleep, days of questioning. It must all be adding up, I don't see why you're not getting all the sleep you can. Unless you're scared" Sirius leant forwards. "What will happen if you sleep?"

"My heart rate will slow, my energy levels will replenish, my breathing will steady and my eyes will be firmly shut."

"And which aspect of that frightens you Sirius?"

Sirius snorted. "You don't know what you're talking about. But then your kind rarely do."

"My kind?" James raised an eyebrow.

"Were you pressurised to follow in your father's footsteps heavily? Did you always feel like a let down, like something you were doing wasn't impressing your parents, no matter how hard you tried? You're not wearing a wedding ring, James. You don't speak to the officers in anything other than a professional way, is that a method of keeping yourself distanced so that they don't discover what you really are?" Sirius rested his forearms on the table. "How many men have you fucked?" he toyed with a strand of hair, curling it round a long finger before releasing it again.

"Where is he, where's Remus? Tell us where he is and we'll protect him."

"He doesn't want protecting from you thank you very much. Everyone just seems to have made this assumption that I can't help him."

"He still got beat up, no matter how hard you tried. Missing several teeth, numerous hospital visits, broken bones" James spread out a pile of papers and spun them round, showing the contents to Sirius. "He got a kick out of seeing Remus like this."

Sirius studied them intently, running his finger over the outline of each figure multiple times. James was, as ever; like all the other men working the case, unable to read his face. "Maybe he asked him to do it."

"Did he?"

"No."

"Why would you say that then Sirius?" he hoped that if he said Sirius's name enough times something would get through.

"Because it was a line of enquiry you had forgotten to consider and I think you should know what's wrong with your system. Maybe if you could work it out yourself then Remus would be fine, Remus would have been safe and I wouldn't have had to protect him."

"You can't carry this on; you know it isn't good for him, or you. Greyback's gone, you made sure of that, so tell us what you did to him and do you and Remus a favour."

Sirius ran a hand through his hair, it falling lankly back down where he had lifted it slightly. James sat impassively, knowing that he worked off of the reactions of others and used that to his advantage, to avoid answering questions.

"I protected him. I protected Remus" he sighed, sick and tired of repeating the same words over and over.

"We know you did. None of us are disputing that, and since you've been here, if anyone has said otherwise then I personally apologise. You've done a good job, Remus is thankful, you know he is. You saved him, Sirius, but now I need to know where he is so that we can all work together to keep him safe."

Sirius shook his head. "You're a liar. We don't like liars. Remus came to the police, years ago, and Greyback got him, he said he was his uncle and Remus had run away from home, and none of you would listen. That's why only I can be here, he doesn't like it here, he wouldn't come, and I didn't want him to have to."

"You don't have to get anxious you know, we can do this in your time." James was keen to avoid another explosion like that of the previous Thursday which involved a lot of shouting, swearing and sedatives. "There's nothing to get worried about. We're all working together aren't we?"

Sirius by this point was raking his fingers through his hair and rubbing his temples, frowning and mouthing things all the while. When he glanced up his eyes were wild and yet it wasn't the usual aggression that was present, no, it was something akin to anxiety, and James took that as his cue to leave. Standing up he gathered the hospital documents and photos.

"I'll see you tomorrow Sirius, please try to get some sleep, I think Remus would want you to, don't you?" he waited for a few seconds before acknowledging he wasn't going to get a reply and left the room, bolting it shut after him.

"Alastor" he jogged down the corridor coming to a stop as he reached his superior.

"Still nothing?" the older man barked, not even bothering to check that James was with him before tearing off round a corner.

"I don't know what's going to work now. He's not going to let him go."

"He thinks he's protecting the boy, I don't know, maybe he is. We haven't spoken with Remus, we don't know if he's stable. Sirius was who we brought into custody, Sirius was who stabbed Greyback, and Sirius is going to be the one ultimately in charge, possibly for the long run."

James pushed his glasses up, his body filling with exhaustion with every step further he took through the corridors. "But he isn't Sirius; he's Remus."

"Look, Potter, all I'm saying is that we don't know what it's like to be in that fragile a state, mentally. Part of his brain is concealing who he really is to protect himself for god's sake, and we knew that there was a chance that we wouldn't be able to retrieve Remus when we brought Sirius in."

"It's just frustrating. He doesn't even know he's killed someone. Well, part of him does, but not the bit that's _him_."

"Go home, you sound and look like shite."

James smiled slightly, by now well used to his boss's brusque nature. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure" but he was already halfway to where he needed to be next.

James didn't sleep that night, plagued by the thought that Sirius wouldn't be either. It made him shudder to think the atrocities that one human could inflict on another that would cause them to become so damaged and create an alternate, stronger personality.

It had been a week of questioning and they had focused all their efforts on getting a confession out of Remus, but when it became apparent that Sirius was inhibiting this by taking over they had changed their tactics; this time trying to make Remus resurface so that they could assess just what he had been through and how it would weigh on the court's decision.

When morning finally came he was out of the house as soon as he could be and drove over to work, hoping despite knowing better by now that Sirius would relent and they would be able to finally talk to Remus. But when he arrived he found Sirius was sitting on the edge of the bed, as alert and awake as ever.

"He's been there all night" Gideon Prewett, one of the guards on the night shift commented as James watched him through the glass.

"What a surprise" James sighed as he knocked on the door before letting himself in.

"Good morning James" Sirius looked up at him. "Did you have a good night's rest at home?"

"I hear you're refusing to sleep still" he pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed. "I know as well as you do that that isn't doing you or Remus any good."

"I know how to take care of him" Sirius stated, folding his arms across his chest. "I have been taking care of him for years."

"So you said yesterday, and yet you still couldn't stop Greyback getting to him" James produced the photos from the night before, spreading them out on the bed as he hoped for the same miniscule reaction he had gotten previously. "You tried your very hardest and he still got hurt. You did good Sirius, I know you protected him, but he still got hurt, and you had such a burden to bear. I want both of you to be safe, and to not have to worry about anything anymore."

"Remus was weak. He tried not to be, but he wasn't a strong person" an index finger traced the face in the photo, pausing over a bruised cheekbone. "I was stronger; I had to look after him."

"You don't have to do that anymore, you made sure he was safe, didn't you? You killed Greyback, is Remus not safe now?"

Sirius shook his head, still gazing at the photos. "He won't like it here, he won't understand; he'll be scared. He's scared of everything, he can't be here."

"What are you scared of Sirius? We're all scared of something, so what's your fear?"

"I'm afraid of something happening to him" Sirius looked up from the photos, and the eyes that met James' weren't angry for once. "I love him, James. He needs me, and I can't leave him, not again." He looked back down, this time pulling a photo onto his lap. "I thought I should make him tough. I thought it was time he learnt to protect himself, in case I wasn't around and do you know what happened? He hurt him, he hurt him so much. It was the worst one ever. I thought he was going to die. I couldn't let it happen again. The night he got out of hospital I went to Greyback, I had the knife behind my back. He wouldn't apologise, he wouldn't acknowledge he had done anything wrong, and I knew what I had to do. I had to make Remus safe, James."

"And you did. Sirius, look at me, you've kept Remus safe for so long, and he loves you too, you know he does. But you need to let him go."

And in flash that look was gone from his eyes, the anger back as he jumped up, the photograph fluttering onto the floor. "You're trying to take him from me! I knew it, you're all the same! You can't keep him safe! No-one can but me. No-one helped him when he was crying at night, in agony and bleeding; only I was there! I took his pain for him! You weren't there!" his voice was becoming more hysterical with each moment and it shocked James to see him so out of control. "He hurt him and Remus called out for help for hours and no-one came! I had to step in every fucking time!"

"Sirius please-"

"No!" he shrieked and bent over, sticking a hand under his pillow. "I have to keep him safe." Out came his hand, this time closed around a large blade. "You're all worthless shits, not even capable of a decent search!"

"You don't have to do this" James rose to his feet, scraping his chair back. "This isn't the answer Sirius. You'd be killing Remus."

"Then he'd be safe, he wouldn't have to suffer anymore" he moved the knife so it was facing his abdomen. "Me and him would be happy forever."

"You don't want to do this. You know this isn't helping him."

"Tell him I'm sorry, please, James. I have to do this, it's the only way for us to go on; all I ever wanted to do was protect him."

"This isn't protecting him!" James shouted, but it was too late. Sirius plunged the knife into his stomach and staggered backwards, feeling for the bed before sitting down on it.

His body changed completely, gone was any sign of confidence or control, and even his eyes seemed like those of another person. Sirius was gone. The person left behind was vulnerable, terrified and had no idea what was going on.

"Remus" James threw himself next to him, pressing his hand around the knife as he pushed the call button next to the bed repeatedly. "Remus my name is James Potter, you're going to be alright."

"Where am I?" he stuttered, unable to keep his eyes fixed on one place in the room.

"You're safe, Remus. Greyback is gone. He won't hurt you anymore."

Remus smiled, revealing red-stained teeth. "I know. My angel made him go. I didn't see him, but he made him go away, he keeps me safe."

"Your angel sounds nice."

"He is. I don't know his name though" he coughed, spraying James in a thin sheen of blood.

"His name is Sirius, and he said, he said to tell you it's all going to be alright now. He has made things better."

"It's a nice name" Remus contemplated, seemingly unaware of the large knife stuck in his internal organs, despite the fact that his voice was fading with each word. "An angel's name. My angel. Sirius… he saved me, you know, Sirius did."

"He loves you."

Remus spluttered a little but then regained control of his breathing again. "Sirius loves me" James moved a hand to wipe blood from the corner of Remus's mouth, abandoning all attempts to stem the stab wound. There was nothing he nor anyone else could do; Sirius had won. And perhaps, in a way that was ultimately what he had done. No-one would harm Remus anymore, that part of his brain; Sirius, had made sure of that. "I love Sirius" and with the name on his lips, one Remus Lupin ceased to be, taking with him a Sirius Black. They would suffer no more.


End file.
